As 2006 came to an end, William and Kate’s four-year relationship suffered a setback when Kate’s family invited William to come and stay with them for New Year. The Middletons had booked Jordanstone House set in snowy countryside on the outskirts of Alyth, North of Dundee. William had originally intended to come, but then changed his mind, which upset Kate. They hadn’t seen each other over the festive season, as William always spent Christmas with the Queen and the rest of his family at Sandringham. Although certain things were changing with the times within the royal family, Christmas at Sandringham was still strictly a royal affair. It meant they would not be able to spend Christmas Day together unless they were married.

Unfortunately, the trend of their spending time apart continued into the new year. The day before Kate’s twenty-fifth birthday, William left to join his first regiment, The Blues and Royals, stationed with the Household Cavalry at Bovington Barracks in Dorset. He would be away for much of the following months, and the three-hour drive meant that he wouldn’t necessarily be returning to London every weekend.

In 2007, many had been predicting a royal wedding, and Woolworths were already stocking wedding paraphernalia. Just before Kate’s birthday, Diana’s former private secretary Patrick Jephson wrote a feature for the Spectator called ‘The Next People’s Princess’ about how she would be a glamorous and much-needed addition to the royal family. When Kate went to work on the morning of her birthday, she was swarmed with more aggressive paparazzi than ever before.

Interest in Kate had now crossed over into harassment, and the following day, William requested that his press secretary release a statement, reading, ‘He wants more than anything for it to stop. Miss Middleton should, like any other private individual, be able to go about her everyday business without this kind of intrusion. The situation is proving unbearable for all those concerned.’

The following month, William gave Kate a pre-Valentine’s present of a green enamel Van Cleef & Arpels diamond-framed makeup compact, featuring a polo player about to hit a pearl. Gestures were one thing, but the couple weren’t spending any time together and cracks were beginning to show, and then to deepen.

William was stationed outside London and they spent significant amounts of time apart over the next few months. They were also still young, and both figuring out what they wanted from life, but Kate felt like she had less of a say in their relationship and their future. Although she had her job at Jigsaw, she wasn’t sure it was what she wanted to do long-term.

William had to fulfill his duties – that was his destiny – but where did that leave her? She wasn’t sure herself which direction she would like to take – should she use her art history degree and go into a related field, should she pursue her interest in fashion or should she maximize her past experience and family contacts and go into the party industry like her parents? Or would all of it be moot? If they ended up getting married, she would be required to submerge herself fully in royal life, and this would take some time and preparation.

Additionally, William didn’t seem to be in any rush to head back to London at weekends. His quarters in his barracks were small, like those of the other men, fitted with just a single bed and not conducive to a couple staying for the weekend. So if they wanted to see each other, it would mean his making the effort to go to London or Berkshire. He started spending a lot of time with the rest of his barracks, going out drinking and dancing.

Then when he did make it back to London, on one occasion, he went out clubbing to Boujis with friends and flirted with another girl, which was in the papers the next day. Kate grew increasingly fed up, and felt his behaviour was disrespectful.

They attended the Cheltenham Festival together, but whereas the previous year it seemed that Kate could do no wrong as she hung out in the royal box with Charles and Camilla, this year she and William looked unhappy and out of sorts. Their matching decades-older tweed outfits were indicative of the rot that had set into their relationship. A few days later, William was back in his barracks and went out to nearby Elements nightclub in Bournemouth. The normally cautious prince was drunk and enjoying himself, surrounded by glamorous half-naked girls. In one picture he appeared to be holding the breast of Brazilian Ana Ferreira. Another clubber on the same night, Lisa Agar, said William was flirty – dancing and making suggestive comments. The pictures and quotes were in the papers the next day, and Kate and William were both embarrassed. However, there was no disguising the fact that William was unsure of their future together. When Charles was in a relationship with Diana and it reached a crossroads, Prince Philip said to him that he needed to take action one way or another and Charles proposed. When William was faced with a similar dilemma he went the other way.

The last time Kate and William went out together before they split was with their friends Hugh and Rose van Cutsem, whose wedding they had attended two years earlier. On 31 March 2007, the foursome had a quiet night out in the van Cutsems’ local the King’s Head pub in Bledington. By the time Kate flew to Ireland with her mum on 3 April, the relationship of four years was over. Kate was devastated, but instead of just weeping at home in a darkened room, she got busy. Nothing gives a problem some perspective than getting away from it, and flying to another country was even better. Kate and Carole had gone to Ireland to support Carole’s friend Gemma Billington, who was showing a private exhibition of her paintings. After viewing the exhibition, mother and daughter attended the champagne reception, and made the most of their visit by touring the National Gallery of Ireland.

William decided to celebrate the end of his relationship with a trip to Mahiki. The news of their split was not yet public, but those around him at the club were made aware when he leaped on to a table, shouting ‘I’m free!’, before slipping into his version of the robot dance, made famous by England footballer Peter Crouch, and suggesting to his friends that they drink the menu.

The following day the news of their split broke, but it wasn’t long before William was having second thoughts. Mindful, perhaps, of the decision his father had made when he was in his twenties and let Camilla go, William did not want to make the same mistake. Kate, however, needed some convincing. He had broken her heart, and she wanted to make sure that if they did get back together it would be for the right reasons, and that she would be assured things would change. She signed up for a charity challenge with an all-female dragon boat racing crew called the Sisterhood, who billed themselves, A-Team style as, ‘An elite group of female athletes, talented in many ways, toned to perfection with killer looks, on a mission to keep boldly going where no girl has gone before.’

William spent the summer at his barracks, and in his free time he fulfilled royal duties, played polo and enjoyed a few nights out with friends. Meanwhile, Kate said yes to a slew of invitations and in public was more sociable and vibrant than she had been for some time. She was soon joined in London by Pippa, who had just finished university and moved into the Chelsea flat with Kate. The two girls would have spray tans and blow-dries together, and decide which social events to attend. For some time, Kate had felt like she wanted to edge towards a more stable and mature lifestyle, favouring chilled nights at home and family events. However, she was still only twenty-five, and was now a single girl with the world at her feet – and a taxi waiting outside.

Although she was heartbroken, she wasn’t going to show it. For her breakup diary, her dresses were shorter, her tops lower and her outfits racier. There were numerous nights out to hotspots where she had been a regular with William, and her swirl of brunette hair and carefully folded bronzed limbs as she entered and exited taxis was a common sight throughout April and May. She attended some diverse events. She and Pippa were at luxury jeweller Asprey for the launch of Young Stalin – a biography written by Tara Palmer-Tomkinson’s brother-in-law Simon Sebag Montefiore. Kate also went to a party to promote the film Rabbit Fever, which was about women obsessed with the infamous vibrators. A world away from the frumpy ageing tweeds of two months ago, Kate wore a slinky off-the-shoulder top and silky skirt with a bare midriff, caramel tan and sunkissed hair. Inside the party she wore pink silk bunny ears, danced and ‘teased all the boys’.

Although Kate embarked on a breakup social whirl, inside she was in pain. Training with the Sisterhood helped distract her and also make her feel better. The twenty-one girls involved were aiming to row across the channel to raise money for the Ben Hollioake Fund, who raise money for the CHASE Hospice Care for Children, and another children’s hospice charity, Babes in Arms. Kate got involved through her old school friend Alicia Fox-Pitt, and fellow rower Emma Sayle recalls, ‘Kate was very down and I think the training became her therapy. Kate had always put William first and she said this was a chance to do something for herself.’

The team trained on the Thames in the leafy London borough of Chiswick from 6.30 a.m., and Kate threw herself into training. She very quickly proved herself. ‘It wasn’t a question of, “Oh, she’s Kate Middleton so she makes the team,”’ Emma told the Daily Telegraph. ‘She has had to prove herself. We launched the challenge in November and Kate joined in April. Our coach said she could only join if she was up to it.’ Thanks to years of sporting training, and an ongoing regime of tennis and swimming, Kate was more than up to the task. In her engagement interview, she said of the breakup, ‘I think at the time I wasn’t very happy about it, but actually it made me a stronger person, you find out things about yourself that maybe you hadn’t realized. I think you can get quite consumed by a relationship when you’re younger … I really valued that time for me as well, although I didn’t think it at the time!’

She was still licking her wounds when she headed to Ibiza for some sun and headspace with her brother James and friends, including Marlborough classmate Emilia d’Erlanger. Once more, they stayed at their Uncle Gary’s villa, and it was noted by Gary’s wife that Kate spent a lot of time on the phone.

Meanwhile, though William had wondered what other options he had out there, it turned out he’d had what he wanted all along. He and Kate secretly got back together on 9 June, when she attended a party at his barracks to celebrate the end of training. The theme was ‘Freakin’ naughty’ and William wore hot pants, vest and policeman’s helmet, while Kate was dressed as a naughty nurse. There were blow-up dolls hanging from the ceiling and sexy waitresses handing out lethal cocktails. Outside was a bouncy castle and plunge pool, but William and Kate stuck to the dance floor, and that night she stayed over at his barracks. William later said, ‘We were both very young … We were both finding ourselves and being different characters. It was very much trying to find our own way and we were growing up so it was just a bit of space and it worked out for the better.’

Excerpted with permission from Kate: A Biography by Marcia Moody, published by Michael O’Mara and distributed by Trafalgar Square Publishing/iPg